I’ve very much missed the medical focus and the ethical debates because there were very few over the last three seasons. It’s probably not a coincidence that ethics is back when Cameron and Chase are. The last episode to seriously do an ethical dilemma was The Itch when Cameron fought House on his manipulation of her patient.

I liked Cameron speaking her views, liked how Dibala confronted her on not acting on them, and how she realized he was right and came down on the side of treating him.

I thought Chase’s dilemma and how we could see him changing his mind as the episode went on was well written by Peter Blake and well acted by Jesse Spencer.

Good character growth for both Cameron and Chase as opposed to Foreman who has been spinning his wheels for six seasons now.

I even liked Cuddy, in this episode. The savvy, professional Cuddy is back, and it’s probably not a coincidence that there was none of the shipping of House/Cuddy except for a comment by Wilson. It just shows how much their relationship mess has ruined both the characters.

I wish the show would stay like this, smart, aware of issues, good characterization interspersed with humor, rather than competing with Desperate Housewives for the comedy category.

The only part that I would have jettisoned was the Foreman/Thirteen relationship subplot. I don’t know of anyone who actually cares what happens to them, either separately or together, and so expecting the audience to chew their nails over whether they will work it out in their relationship is Epic Fail. For me, it’s a waste of screentime that could be better used for more interesting characters and storylines.

HA! I’ve come to find Foreman an incredibly loathesome character, but I don’t think it’s Epps’ fault – I squarely blame the writers. EVERY character has made some kind of progression except Foreman, who continually rehashes the “I’m not like House”/”I’m just like House” storyline Every. Single. Season. It blows my mind that Cuddy can become a mom, Cameron can get over her House infatuation, Wilson can have the whole Amber deal, Chase can grow a spine, and House can go to a mental hospital, but Foreman can’t learn to act like a human being.

Epps was my favorite actor, second to Hugh Laurie, in the first season; the look in his eyes, even with the rest of his face hidden by a surgical mask, when the mom dies in “Babies and Bathwater” is one of the finest acting moments in the series IMHO. But he’s been phoning it in for the last three seasons and honestly, given the repetitiveness of the writing, I sorta don’t blame him.

And, when it comes to “Katie & David,” they lost their way a long time ago and betrayed a large section of House fans who had faithfully followed them from Day One. Why set up the subtle flirtation between House & Cam for 2+ seasons if they were just going to drop it cold after that? Jennifer obviously ticked off someone way high up in TPTB, but, OTOH, Epps must have some serious blackmail material so as to keep himself front & center. That’s the only way I can make rational sense of what they’ve done with the show. I love Hugh, but I’m fed up and I’m not going to take it any more. Life’s too short to spend it being aggravated at tv writers screwing up what used to be an incredible show.

I guessed that Chase would do some shoddy doctoring in order to kill Jones’ character. The storytelling was a bit predictable, but hey, it was drama at its highest point. I did like that Chase and Cameron were FINALLY given their due and actually prominently featured in a HOUSE episode. It’s just unfortunate that Cameron will no longer be a regular after November. I do agree with you in that HOUSE almost always borders on the serious and the melodramatic, and it would be a nice change of pace to show some lightness with the docs at Princeton-Plainsboro. Seems like everyone’s always acting with a heavy heart or something.

I actually did like that HOUSE was forced to take a backseat in this episode and look forward to seeing more of Chase, Cameron and even Foreman.